Spring Rolls

We have a Thai restaurant in town that has the most delicious spring rolls -- they're better than anything else on the menu. I could eat a plate of them.  And the sweet/sour sauce served with them is perfection.

So (you guessed it) my adventurous husband decided to replicate said delicacies in our kitchen. He watched videos online (albeit from a Vietnamese chef) and then visited the local Asian market.

He started with chopped carrots, cabbage, and bean noodles, which you see here.  To this, he also added chopped garlic, salt, and a little sesame oil.

In the filling were also these -- don't worry! This is NOT Klingon food, and no they don't wiggle.  These are dried mushrooms, being reconstituted in water. I'm not a huge mushroom fan, so this worried me a bit, but I didn't say anything.

Also in the stuffing mix was a pound of ground beef, cooked in a skillet. So much for the filling.

He had fun with the rice wrappers.  He soaked them in water to make them pliable,

And then wrapped the filling mixture in them.

Tada!!  Twenty-one fine-looking spring rolls, ready to deep fry in peanut oil at 375º. So far, so good.

Oh.  By the way, before I go on, I must mention this fabulous sauce, available at your local WalMart, that was exactly like the great sauce at the restaurant.  If you're buying any other sweet/sour sauce, STOP IMMEDIATELY.  Buy this.  Our son's Philipino roommate at college recommended it.  His family stock-piles it at home.  It's "da bomb," as they say.

Okay. Now comes disaster.  Or as Julia said, "Exploding Rolls."  Yep.  When Adam put them into the oil, several of them really lost their innards. Some didn't fry fast enough, and were a little moist and greasy. Here's what the platter looked like.  Yeah, I know.  Not gorgeous.  But you know what?  I'm all about taste.  Adam is all about taste and looks.  I, however, can eat with my eyes closed very happily.

And those mushrooms?  They cooked up all crunchy and were extremely yummy in texture.

Here's a nice-looking one. And they were scrumptuous, Truly Scrumptuous. We will have these again, and I don't care how they look, although he's already plotting how to keep them from bursting open in their enthusiasm to be cooked. He'll try to wrap them so as to eliminate all air inside, and make much skinnier ones, and fry them hotter to avoid the greasiness. 

But all in all, this was a success, taste-wise.  I ate three, and made myself stop because I know I'll have snacks tonight at Bible Study.  Phooey.